This invention relates to the salvage of abandoned or wrecked motor vehicles, and more particularly to removal of the fuel tanks and salvaging the fuel from such vehicles.
Municipalities and local governments typically engage automobile salvage yards to remove abandoned or wrecked motor vehicles from road sides, parking lots and other public properties. Private owners may also engage such salvage yards to remove non-functional vehicles from private property. In many instances, these vehicles are in an advanced state of deterioration, and must be towed to the salvage yard. The fuel tanks of the motor vehicles are frequently weakened by impact or rusted from prolonged exposure to the elements, and must be removed prior to salvaging the vehicle. In addition, salvers are interested in preventing fuel spills on their property, where it would become a ground contaminate. Consequently, it has been the practice of automobile salvage yards to first disconnect and remove the fuel tanks before salvaging or crushing the abandoned vehicle.
Once removed, the fuel tanks become a handling problem for the salvage company. In prior practice, the tank openings were stuffed with rags to avoid spillage until they were carried to a point in the yard where they were poured into cans, where the fuel was emptied and disposed of. The tanks were then flushed with water before being crushed for disposal and processing as salvage metal. In this prior art practice, the fuel tanks were an unwieldy item which had to be carried to a collection point and hand emptied into containers, and particularly in those instances where tank were severely deteriorated, had to be protected from cracking and spilling the fuel. Further, the fuel in such tanks is often contaminated by rust particles and other debris, and by water condensate from standing idle for an extended period of time.
For the above reasons, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobil apparatus which may be towed to the abandoned vehicle, and the fuel tank removed and drained into it at the site and during transit to the next abandoned vehicle or removed to other locations owned or managed by the company.
It is a further objective that the mobile apparatus be able to reclaim the fuel in the tanks in the abandoned vehicle for use in other motor vehicles, particularly the salvage vehicles at the yard. These and other advantages of the apparatus of this invention will become apparent upon review of the drawings and description which follows.